It looks and moves like a like a giant snake, but according to scientists this weird device could be generating energy off Britain's coast within five years.
Each 'anaconda', which could be more than 200 yards long and made almost entirely of a rubber tube, may be capable of producing 1MW (megawatt) of power.
The plan is to have 'shoals' or 'schools' of the devices around the coast, where they would be harnessed to 'swim' just below the surface.Groups of 50 anacondas could each generate enough electricity to power 50,000 homes at an 'excitingly low' cost, the developers Checkmate Group said.
A ten-yard version of the anaconda is currently in the final stage of 'proof of concept' testing at a 300-yard wave test tank run by QinetiQ in Gosport, Hampshire.The waves in the sea stimulate a 'bulge wave' which passes down the tube like a pulse of blood in an artery, gathering energy to drive a turbine in its tail.
The electricity generated by the turbine would be captured and carried to shore by cables.
Smaller versions of the device could be located alongside offshore wind farms where they could use existing grid connections to transmit electricity back to land.
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